Crossed

Coming of age stories showcase the way a character “faces and grows from challenging experiences” (“Common Themes in Literature” on SuperSummary). Cassia’s journey to find Ky is also a journey of self-discovery. Like Ky, she tells her traveling companions that she came to the Carving to find her love, not the Rising or the Pilot. As the story progresses, she realizes how much the Rising means to her, and when Ky initially refuses to join the Rising, she makes the heartbreaking choice to find her place in the rebellion (even if it means their separation). At the end of the novel, Cassia realizes that she and Ky “are still reaching. For each other. For who we are meant to be,” and their search for each other was just one chapter of a longer story (337). She ends the novel more determined than before.

Growing older means taking on more responsibility, and Cassia and Ky find themselves in a caretaking position with Eli. Ky compares Eli to Cassia’s younger brother Bram and notices he “reminds me of myself” (126); Cassia sees the resemblance too. It’s a struggle to balance hope with truth when talking to Eli. In the cotton field, Ky surprises himself when he tells Eli about the farmers and the Outer Provinces: “I don’t know why I’m trying to give him hope” (49). By contrast, Ky holds himself back when Eli wishes he knew how to write. Ky knows he won’t have time to teach him, and offering this skill would only bring disappointment later on. As guardians, Cassia and Ky give Eli the gift of choice whenever they can. Often, it’s a small choice, like where they should camp for the night, but any choice is more than they themselves were offered at his age.

Growing and changing in Crossed also means learning to say goodbye. Ky and Eli don’t have time to spare after digging Vick’s grave, so Ky leaves without reciting the Tennyson poem. The boy with burned hands chooses another path through the Carving from Cassia and Indie; Cassia wants “him to come with us. But it’s his choice” (98). Eli ultimately chooses to accompany Hunter to find the other farmers. This is a particularly hard goodbye because Eli is so young and neither Ky nor Cassia knows much about where he’s going. Still, this is his choice. Eli tells Cassia that they’ll meet again, and even though she “shouldn’t promise a thing like this,” she agrees with Eli to give him the comfort and courage he needs (335). Saying goodbye to Ky on the riverbank is hard, but it’s necessary for Cassia to become “who I need to be” (337). In a way, her story has moved beyond that of a girl in love; love interests Ky and Xander are still important to her, but she has come to value independence just as much.

The love triangle at the beginning of Crossed remains a love triangle to the end—albeit one in favor of Ky. Cassia uses the word love to describe how she feels about both Xander and Ky. She loves childhood friend-official Match Xander for his loyalty and kindness; she loves unofficial Match Ky for his artistic spirit and courage. At different points, she thinks “I love you” to Xander (36) and Ky (340). The boys offer her different things, different ways of life, and Cassia admits she doesn’t want to choose: “I want both” (305).

At the beginning of Crossed, Cassia and Ky’s love is still juvenile. Their connection is based on shared interests—specifically, poetry—and mutual admiration. Cassia safekeeps Ky’s compass, a token of his affection, but is later forced to trade either the compass or Xander’s blue tablets for a map to find Ky. By trading the totem of their romance, she symbolically sacrifices the idea of Ky for the real person—which, in itself, may be a more powerful symbol of their love. But after they reunite, they realize that being together isn’t enough. Xander, the Society, and the Rising are all parts of their relationship. Ky comes to understand that he can’t fight “who we are and the fact that there are others we love” (274). Moreover, Cassia shows Xander that she kept his blue tablets as proof that she still cares for him; this different use of logic reflects her feeling conflicted over, and loving, both boys.

Cassia and Ky grow to accept each other for who they are, including their own pain and the pain they’ve caused each other, when they apologize—Cassia for sorting Ky, and Ky for lying to Cassia—before they say goodbye. In this moment, they choose their love for each other over being right or winning an argument. They ultimately choose, and accept, who the other person is going to become. In the final chapter, Cassia thinks of Ky sending messages to her in Central, and how she “didn’t know all that was inside” him (368). While there is plenty Cassia doesn’t know, she knows to listen when Ky is ready to share more of himself.

Art has a practical revolutionary use in Crossed. Stories carry the message of the Rising through various people and into the Society. Cassia first learns about the Rising and the Pilot from the Archivist’s story. The message is encoded, and at first, Cassia worries that the Archivist has given her something useless. However, encoding is the purpose of the story—it hides information in plain sight. Cassia realizes this for herself when she reads the final line: “In a place past the edge of the Society’s map, the Pilot will always live and move” (55). The same is true of the song that Indie’s mother used to sing to her. It hides the message that a savior is coming through lyrics, allowing them to pass for a lullaby; Indie also uses the story to hide her own failure to escape by boat.

Stories offer clarity and wisdom for Cassia and Ky. Cassia often thinks about Grandfather, as she misses him and his guidance. As such, the idea of an angel, a figure Cassia didn’t grow up with which shows up in some of the farmers’ art, brings her comfort and peace. Cassia imagines “that Grandfather hasn’t vanished but instead floats above it all” (137), and this gives her the strength to carry on in her quest for the Rising. Ky tells himself a story about a perfect life with Cassia, but it shows him that a life apart from everyone else they love isn’t possible. As an exercise, this story brings Ky one step closer to reconciliation with Cassia—and later culminates in his mural of his life and her.

Hunter wears art on his body as a means of daily resistance. He explains to the group of teens that his blue lines represent the connection between all things. This value directly conflicts with the Society’s ideology. The Society poisons water, hunts down farmers, and sends children to die in battle. They either don’t think these actions will ever come back to bite them, or think themselves immune to their effects. By contrast, wearing the blue lines reinforces Hunter’s beliefs, reminds him of his fellow farmers, and inspires conversation that allows him to share his beliefs with others.